End of an era in Calgary with Jarome Iginla's departure

Calgary Flames fan Sharon Rogers shows her lament for the looming loss of Jarome Iginla during game action between the Flames and Colorado Avalanche at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alta. on Wednesday, March 27, 2013. (LYLE ASPINALL/QMI Agency)

When the Calgary Flames put out a release Wednesday night that long-time captain Jarome Iginla would be a healthy scratch, the heart and soul of the Alberta franchise appeared to be embarking on a new chapter of his illustrious career.

And what a career it has been.

In 1,219 games in Flames red-and-gold, Iginla scored 525 goals and 570 assists for 1,095 points. In the process, he led the Flames to a Stanley Cup appearance against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004; won the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s scoring champion in 2001-02; and captured the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal scorer in 2001-02 and 2003-04.

Through it all, he was a stand up guy. There was never any whining in bad times or boasting when things were going well.

He was, in fact, the face of the Flames franchise.

And now he is taking his trademark grin to Pittsburgh, where he joins Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Brenden Morrow and Marc-Andre Fleury as part of a star-studded cast that must be strong favourites to win the Stanley Cup.

When general manager Jay Feaster announced the deal early Thursday morning, he left many in the hockey world in a state of shock, since it was generally believed an Iginla-to-Boston trade was pretty much a done deal.

TSN reported it. Bruins sources told the QMI Agency that that’s what they believed. A number of Bruins players actually left TD Garden after a 6-5 shootout loss Wednesday night thinking Iginla was coming to Boston. Fans leaving the rink in Beantown could be heard chanting “Ig-gy, Ig-gy.”

But, according to Feaster, “the player” picked his destination. And that destination is Pittsburgh.

In return, the Flames receive U.S. college players Kenneth Agostino, Ben Hanowski and a first-round draft pick.

A couple of healthy scratches within the Boston organization had observers quickly connecting the dots between the Bruins and Iginla. In Boston, the Bruins scratched defenceman Matt Bartowski, 24, while the AHL Providence Bruins sat centre Alex Khokhlachev. It was assumed they would be part of the deal.

But on this wacky night, nothing was what it seemed.

Other than the fact that Jarome Iginla has his best chance to finally get a Cup ring in Pittsburgh.

Earlier this week, Iginla was asked about all the speculation of him being potentially dealt.

“Guys go through it every year at the deadline,” Iginla said.

A classy comment from a classy guy.

ADVICE FROM MATS

It might be the best advice Iginla could get.

Asked what words to the wise he would give the veteran forward in the midst of all this current trade furor, Hall of Famer Mats Sundin said Iginla’s ultimate decision must come from his own gut.

“There is no right or wrong,” Sundin said during an interview on Sportsnet’s Hockey Central at Noon on Wednesday. “It’s just an individual choice, I guess.

“You have to listen to your heart.”

Sundin himself went through a similar dilemma late in his career. It was a debate he went over and over again in his own mind as the 2008 trade deadline approached.

Do you agree to leave the team you poured your heart and soul into for more than a decade? Or do you waive your no-trade and become a rent-a-player whose sole purpose is to capture a Stanley Cup, all the while helping your former franchise rebuild by netting it a return for your services before your contract runs out?

In Iginla’s case, he was willing to move albeit under the proper circumstances. That’s different from Sundin who, five years earlier, opted to remain with the Toronto Maple Leafs

“What made it hard for me, I felt I was playing as good as I ever had,” Sundin said. “I had more than a point per game, I was playing more than 20 minutes per game, we were just a few points out (of a playoff spot). I couldn’t see myself going anywhere else just to go for a championship.

“I think it would have been different if I had a smaller role on the team. I could have stepped aside. But I thought I was playing great.”

THE FINAL HORN

Maybe the real reason goalie Miikka Kiprusoff doesn’t want the Flames to move him is because he plans to bail on the final year of his deal, which runs out at the conclusion of the 2013-14 season. “I know when he negotiated the contract, it was certainly his intention that he would not play that final year, that he would go back to Finland,” former Flames coach Mike Keenan said.

End of an era in Calgary with Jarome Iginla's departure

When the Calgary Flames put out a release on Wednesday night that long-time captain Jarome Iginla would be a healthy scratch against the Colorado Avalanche, the heart and soul of the Alberta franchise appeared to be embarking on a new chapter of his illustrious career.

In a Maple Leafs dressing room too
often stuffed with inflated egos,
personal agendas and a greater concern
for personal stats rather than the
overall standings, the arrivals of
Mike Babcock and, now, Lou Lamoriello,
are a sobering reality check for all
concerned.